No Recall

Above is the image of my proof of vote for our upcoming election (on 14 September 2021), in the attempt to recall the Democratic Governor of California (Gavin Newsom).  My mail-in ballot has been received and counted.  I voted NO.
History has shown us a few rich Republicans can subvert the will of the Democratic majority in California by spending a few million dollars to fund a recall signature petition.  Republicans know they can’t win a statewide election during normal voting cycles because Democrats can gear up to inform the populace and then get out the vote.  To get around this, Republicans fund recalls during off-cycle years knowing far fewer voters participate in these “spot” elections.  And traditionally, the Democrats fail to vote in much larger numbers than Republicans.  So, their minority becomes a majority based on poor turnout.
The unfortunate thing is that should the Republicans succeed, they will have a good chance to also flip the U.S. Senate if an “elderly” Dianne Feinstein is unable to complete her term.  So, a two-fer for a little pocket change (to them)…
Stop this blatant attempt to “buy” the governorship of California.  Vote NO on the recall!!
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Access Is Good

Democracy is not partisan.  That’s where I begin this conversation.  Who I choose once I’m inside the voting booth is my business.  Ensuring my ability to get inside is the responsibility of government.  I’m a progressive Democrat in part because I want the system to be fair.  We should not be guaranteed victory, but we should be guaranteed access.  Anyone who believes in our democracy should hold that to be a good.
—    Stacey Abrams
Quoted by:  Gilad Edelman
In an interview:  “Stacey Abrams on How We’ll Beat Back Voter Suppression“
Published in:  Wired Magazine
Dtd:  15 September 2020
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On This Day In:
2020	Give Me A Minute To Think About That…
	November 3rd Is Coming!
	An Eye For An Eye
2019	Is #45 Warning Alabama Again?
	Day 11: 49ers Win
2018	Worry (x2)
2017	Still Working
	Gold In The Morning Sun
2016	Power Inside
2015	Sometimes I Feel Small
2014	It Slipped Away
2013	Corollary
2012	Working Retired
2011	The Web Is Not Authoritative! (Really?)

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Why Republicans Are Unhappy

It is necessary to the happiness of a man that he be mentally faithful to himself.  Infidelity does not consist in believing or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe.
—     Thomas Paine
[If Republicans believe in Democracy and the right of the people to choose their government’s leaders, why have they spent almost ten months denying the results of (and trying to overturn) an election they lost so decisively?  And why have they spent the same amount of time trying to limit the ability of voters to vote in future elections?  Maybe T. Paine has explained the unhappiness (and rage) of current Republicans.  When will the true political conservatives stand up and challenge the crazies who have taken over their party?  Lord knows, they’ve been wandering in the dessert for over forty years now…    —    KMAB]
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A Democratic Republic Should Promote The Majority While Defending The Minority

The simplest truths often meet the sternest resistance and are slowest in getting general acceptance.
—    Frederick Douglass
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Allowing For Compromise

As long as the differences and diversities of mankind exist, democracy must allow for compromise, for accommodation, and for the recognition of differences.
—    Eugene McCarthy
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Rational Response

Democracy relies on an informed and engaged public responding in rational ways to the real-life facts and challenges before us.  But a growing number of Americans are untethered from that.  “They’re not on the same epistemological grounding, they’re not living in the same worlds,” says Whitney Phillips, a professor at Syracuse who studies online disinformation.  “You cannot have a functioning democracy when people are not at the very least occupying the same solar system.”
—    Charlotte Alter
From her article:  “Down The Rabbit Hole“
Appearing in:  Time Magazine, dtd:  21/28 September 2020
Also appearing online at:  https://time.com/5887437/conspiracy-theories-2020-election/
Under the title:  “How Conspiracy Theories Are Shaping the 2020 Election—and Shaking the Foundation of American Democracy“
[I am currently a paid subscriber to “Time Magazine“.  This quote appears without permission or authorization.  I do not (and have not) received any compensation for posting this quote from either the author or the magazine.  I am not claiming any ownership of the quote, nor am I promoting the purchase of the magazine.  It’s merely something I read and found interesting – so, I’m passing it along to anyone who reads this blog post.    —  KMAB]
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I Wish Republicans Valued Democracy As Much As They Say They Value Freedom

A cynic is one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
—   Oscar Wilde
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An Act Of Faith

In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith.  Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects.
—    J. William Fulbright
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One Lesson In Diversity

One lesson is to have diverse voices at the table, to make sure democracy is retained.  But there are also things that we can’t put price tags on.  Some things are part of our public welfare, and we should not look at a balance book to do them.
—     Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
(Discussing the poisoning of the Flint, Michigan public water supply.)
As quoted by:  Belinda Luscombe
In her interview titled: “8 Questions“
Appearing in: Time Magazine, dtd: 9 July 2019
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A Simple Fact

It’s a simple fact that technology has been weaponized by private companies against democracy.  Corporations are not people.  They don’t have souls.  They’re institutions designed to make money.  And the way the government has always dealt with them is to regulate them to the point where they cease being dangerous to the public.
—    Barry C. Lynn
Executive Director
Open Markets Institute
As quoted by: Romesh Ratnesar
In his article: “Trust“
Appearing in Time Magazine,  dtd:  16 September 2019
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Don’t Mess With The Lady

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday (5 Dec 2019), that the House is moving forward to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. “Our democracy is what is at stake.  The president leaves us no choice but to act.“
As she was leaving the press briefing platform she was asked if she hated President Donald Trump.   Pelosi turned and pointed at the reporter asking the question and said:  “I don’t hate anybody.  We don’t hate anybody.  Not anybody in the world.  Don’t accuse me.“
She returned to the podium to continue:  “I think the president is a coward when it comes to helping our kids who are afraid of gun violence.  I think he is cruel when he doesn’t deal with helping our dreamers.  I think he’s in denial about the climate crisis.“
Impeachment, she emphasized, was about protecting the “Constitution of the United States,” rather than about policy disagreements or dislike of the president which could wait for the election.
“As a Catholic, I resent your using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me.  I don’t hate anyone.“
Speaker Pelosi continued, saying she prayed for the president, and, in fact did so every day.
As she turned to leave the stage she concluded:  “So don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that.“
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No Small Thing

[Journalist] independence is no small thing.  It marks the distinction between tyranny and democracy.  And in a world where budding authoritarians have advanced by blurring the difference, there was a clarity in the spectacle of a tyrant’s fury visited up a man armed only with a pen.  Because the strongmen of the world only look strong.  All despots live in fear of their people.  To see genuine strength, look to the spaces where individuals dare to describe what’s going on in front of them.
—    Karl Vick
From his article: “The Guardians And The War On Truth“
From:  Time Magazine, dtd: December 24th / 31st, 2018
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Remember Your Duty In November

The responsibility of a country is not in the hands of a privileged few.  We are strong, and we are free from tyranny as long as each one of us remembers his or her duty as a citizen.  Whether it’s to report a pothole at the top of your street or lies in a State of the Union address, speak out!  Ask those questions.  Demand that truth.  Democracy is not a free ride, man.  I’m here to tell you.  But, this is where we live.  And if we do our job, this is where our children will live.  God bless America.
—    Joseph C. Wilson IV (played by Sean Penn)
Former United States diplomat who’s wife (Valerie Plame) was depicted as a CIA “operative” outed by the White House during the Iraq War
The quote is taken from the movie:  “Fair Game“
[I will leave it to future historians to settle the dispute of Ms. Plame’s status, the reason for Mr. Wilson’s trips to Africa and whether or not the Bush Administration publicly “outed” a government asset.   —    KMAB]
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It Is No Secret

It is no secret in my country, in the USA, democracy and freedom upon freedom is under attack.  It is dizzying and maddening to say the very least.  These are radical — sometimes, often even, inexplicably complicated and complex times — and one of the things that pains and concerns me the most is the attack on the truth.  The eroding of our ability to engage in intelligent, respectful and respectable discourse as a humane society.
As a nation, as a world, as a global network of artists, writers, creatives, connected ever faster and with more and more urgency, we are losing touch with the essentials for growth, nourishment, deep thought, deep commitment to our soul’s purpose of truth-telling, no matter how painful or uncomfortable that may be.
I call myself a writer.  Maybe you do, too, or maybe you don’t.  But either way, we are all contributors to language, we are all users and shapers of words and ideas, how we use them to build up or destroy, to honor our common dignity or to pick away at it.
—    Allison Marie Conway
[This quote was found at: https://allisonmarieconway.com/
The specific link is: https://allisonmarieconway.com/2018/08/13/on-art-democracy-dangerous-play/
Please visit the original site if you have a spare minute (or two).   —    KMAB]
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But Me

I swear to the Lord,
I still can’t see,
Why Democracy means,
Everybody but me.
―    Langston Hughes
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